


The faerie food incident

by ellalightwood



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 19:02:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13254675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellalightwood/pseuds/ellalightwood
Summary: The incident that was mentioned in City of Bones, in which Jace ate faerie food and ran naked down Madison Avenue with antlers on his head. Takes place before City of Bones, obviously. Enjoy :)





	The faerie food incident

Jace was ridiculously fast. He burst out of Taki’s Diner like a bullet shot from a gun, sprinted across the road with a recklessness that made Alec’s heart jump into his mouth, and proceeded to run down the street, shirtless and laughing, Alec and Isabelle barely managing to keep up with him. Isabelle held Jace’s clothes, which he had tossed aside in the restaurant shortly after devouring a handful of faerie plums that he really should’ve known not to eat. Alec was fairly sure that the faerie waitress, Kaelie, had laughed as Jace had eaten the faerie food and proceeded to strip off despite Isabelle and Alec’s best efforts. Alec wondered briefly if she’d given him the faerie fruit on purpose, so she and her Downworlder friends could have a laugh at the idiotic Shadowhunter who’d gone and eaten food that was too dangerous for anyone but a faerie to eat.

It was fortunate that they were glamoured; Alec imagined that they would cause quite a scene otherwise, two armed teenagers haring after a completely naked boy covered with swirling black runes and bearing the majestic antlers of a stag upon his head. Dodging toddlers in buggies and couples holding hands and several dog walkers, they took a left down Madison Avenue, hurtling through traffic as Jace zigzagged across the street. Jace was singing something Alec didn’t recognise and couldn’t quite hear over the impatient blaring of car horns. He heard Isabelle behind him, breathing heavily. It took a lot for Shadowhunters to get out of breath; Alec had been so intent on catching up with Jace and trying to stop him that he hadn’t noticed how fast they were running. Jace, astonishingly, did not seem at all tired, shooting across the road without stopping or slowing down. Alec wondered if it was the faerie food making him hyperenergetic. He raced past an antiques store, nearly crashing into an old lady laden with shopping bags, splashing through two puddles and shoving his way through a crowd of bemused tourists. They turned left, then right, then left again, following the golden, bouncing curls – and the enormous brown antlers – atop Jace’s head, and suddenly found themselves in Central Park, startling a flock of pigeons into flight as they continued their pursuit. 

Alec slowed down to let Isabelle pass him, trying to steady his breathing. They were running along quite pleasant tree-lined pathways, but there was no time to stop and admire the view. Stomach filled with dread, Alec realised where Jace was heading – to a big, dirty greenish-brown lake, surrounded by trees, with a few mundanes in rowboats bobbing around in it. Jace slowed down, stepping towards it, seemingly completely oblivious to Isabelle’s shouts. He dived, resurfaced, whooped and plunged into the water again. After a moment’s hesitation, it seemed clear that Jace was not planning to emerge from the water anytime soon.  
“I’ll get him,” Alec volunteered. He stripped off his shirt and, bracing himself momentarily, followed Jace into the water. The lake was freezing, but he propelled himself through it, seizing Jace’s arms. Jace kicked and struggled, but Alec held him tight and swam towards the surface of the muddy water, where Isabelle was waiting to pull him to shore, Jace clinging to his waist. All of the energy he had possessed in the chase through the streets of New York seemed to have evaporated; he lay on the grassy bank, panting, his hair sticking to his forehead. The antlers were, mercifully, shrinking. Jace seemed in no hurry to get up, apparently dazed by his faerie-drug-induced escapade, so Isabelle forced his legs into his underwear and jeans while Alec pulled Jace’s shirt over his head and scrawled an Energy rune on his chest. 

The rune worked; Jace blinked, and rose to his feet quickly.  
“What happened?” he asked. His eyes looked normal and golden, his pupils returned to their normal size, and the antlers had disappeared.  
“You ate a plate of faerie fruit and ran all the way to Central Park with no clothes on and antlers on your head,” Alec informed him, trying to inject sternness into his words.  
“And our parents are going to ground us forever when they find out,” Isabelle added sweetly. “So, to make up for putting us through this, you’re paying for a cab back to the Institute.”


End file.
